Possible Changes to HIPAA in 2019

Five years after the last major change, HIPAA could be
receiving an update in 2019.

Changes to HIPAA were proposed in 2018, but it will likely
be closer to the middle of 2019 before these proposed updates will be signed
into law.

At the end of 2018, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued
a request for information on these issues that closed in February 2019. The
comments and feedback are currently under review.

The first update includes the protection of substance abuse
and mental health information records to help fight against the opioid crisis.
Complaints have been made regarding HIPAA’s Privacy Rule, claiming that it is stopping
patients and their families from receiving the help that they need.

The second is the removal of features of HIPAA that hinder
the ability to deliver better health care at a lower cost. OCR is considering changing
the Privacy Rule to make the sharing of patient information with other
providers mandatory rather than simply allowing data sharing. The American Hospital
Association and the American Medical Association are against this change.

The OCR is more than likely to drop the requirement of “healthcare
providers to make a good faith effort to obtain individuals’ written
acknowledgement of receipt of providers’ Notice of Privacy Practices.”

Before making any changes, the Department of Health and
Human Services asks for feedback and comments. Once a rule has been changed,
HIPAA-covered entities are given a short grace period to make all the necessary
changes before they are mandatory.

There is no indication that that HIPAA enforcement will ease up in 2019. Enforcement in 2018 was extremely strict and saw large fines and settlement cases.

Project Hosts is a Cloud Service Provider that is HIPAA compliant. If any changes are made to HIPAA, we will take the necessary steps to ensure that our cloud services remain compliant to provide you with excellent services.

It is not confirmed that any changes will be made to HIPAA. However, after five years, many individuals believe that changers are overdue.